Jennifer Verrill Schurman, PhD, ABPP is a pediatric psychologist at Children's Mercy Kansas City with a specialty in functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Dr. Schurman received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Cincinnati.
Tell us a bit about your background: What is your area of research? What is your most recent journal-editing experience?
I have a long-standing interest in how various components of the biopsychosocial model contribute to the onset and maintenance of abdominal pain in children, as well as in using this information to better tailor treatment approaches in the absence of clinical practice guidelines.
Most recently, my research team has begun leveraging mobile health monitoring technology and individual-level modeling to better understand the heterogeneity within this population.
In terms of editorial experience, I have been a long-standing reviewer for many psychology and medical journals, as well as a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. I have been a reviewer for CPPP since its inception and, for the past few years, have had the pleasure to work with authors, reviewers, and the editorial staff as an Associate Editor.
Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract?
For a clinical practice journal like CPPP, a critical factor is reach. How can we get the valuable information contained in the journal into the hands of the psychologists, health care professionals, administrators, and legislators who could use it?
Growing our readership through the use of social media to increase exposure and engagement beyond the current subscriber base, while also increasing the visibility of CPPP as a desirable outlet for clinically-relevant pediatric psychology and team-based healthcare work, will be a focus over the next several years.
We also will continue to actively encourage submissions that push the boundaries in terms of examining and/or including diverse populations, whether from authors within the United States or across the globe.
Why is this journal important for the field? What is its relevance to society/public health? What are the hot issues in your area right now?
CPPP lives at the intersection between more traditional controlled research and clinical application, as well as at the intersection between psychology and medicine.
Articles address issues such as:
Ultimately, CPPP appeals to a wide range of consumers, including psychologists and medical providers, as well as other healthcare professionals interested in the physical health and psychological well-being of children.
What challenges, if any, lie ahead for the field?
The economics of service provision have certainly come front and center in recent years within the context of a still-evolving health care system.
Pediatric psychologists will increasingly need to demonstrate improvements in key pediatric health outcomes alongside evidence of medical cost offset. Health promotion and early intervention needs to be part of this.
Our field will need to capture meaningful data and utilize it to advocate for changes to financial reimbursement models if the field is to remain vibrant and viable. It is no longer enough to know that an intervention is effective; we also need to know that it saves more than it costs to deliver.
Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Are you making any changes?
We have two special issues in the works that I am especially excited about at this time.
The first is on Economic Evaluation. This issue provides a valuable platform for disseminating efforts related to the economic evaluation of clinical services provided and/or developed by pediatric psychologists to improve health outcomes while minimizing or reducing health care costs.
The second is on the Global Reach of Pediatric Psychology. This issue (still accepting letters of intent) provides an exciting opportunity for researchers and practitioners to learn about psychological aspects of children's health and illness across cultures and to share strategies for health promotion, as well as injury and illness prevention, across international boundaries. I look forward to looking at pediatric psychology and issues of diversity through this global lens.
We will retain our commitment to our Mentored Review Program, through which we strive to educate students and early career psychologists on editorial processes in order to better prepare them to be the next generation of reviewers and editors in our field.
Editor Spotlight features interviews with the newly-appointed editors of APA Journals.
APA Journals produces an array of scholarly journals that cover the spectrum of modern psychology and feature the latest research in the field.
Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology® publishes articles about the professional/applied activities of pediatric psychology, including descriptions of the organization and delivery of clinical services and professional practice issues.